Cointreau Orange Hot Chocolate

This super cozy Cointreau orange hot chocolate promise to warm up the chilling nights that are coming!

I absolutely love autumn. And winter, even more, but living in Lisbon gives me the weakest winters ever. I guess I cannot complain because I came from Venezuela — a completely tropical country without seasons.

Right now we are starting November and we are at 25ºC (77 F). So my cute and cozy clothes will have to wait a little bit more.

But as the impatient person that I am, I already started preparing all my favorite hot beverages while I pray for a rainy day — crazy right?

To inaugurate the season, I decided to prepare a Cointreau orange hot chocolate that has it all to become this season’s beverage hit.

Oranges and chocolate work so well. The soft acidity in the oranges will balance the sweetness of a good piece of chocolate. And to spice things up, a little bit of Cointreau — you can use any kind of orange liquor that you prefer— will warm every fiber of your cold body.

So grab a big mug of this chocolate, a blanket, your cat and a good book and we have the perfect picture of how I am planning to spend the coldest days.

Another thing that I love is to make my food pretty — well, I have a food blog, I shouldn’t be explaining these things. Like me, you can garnish this orange hot chocolate with whipped cream and a zest of orange and dark chocolate to have the most lovely hot chocolate on earth. You probably think I am exaggerating, but look at these pictures and tell me if I’m wrong.

And the best thing… the whipped cream isn’t exactly only for decoration. It is also delicious.

My biggest secret for the best hot chocolate ever is to use high-quality chocolate. I don’t believe in labeled “drinking chocolate”. I only use chocolate that I would eat by itself. Also, I like choosing something between 60% and 80% cocoa. This way you guarantee enough chocolate flavor and not a watery/milky beverage.

The best part of this recipe is that you won’t need cornstarch to thicken your hot chocolate. If you choose a high-quality chocolate and you keep the right proportions, the chocolate itself will give the perfect texture.

So I will be drinking tons of hot chocolate while I wait impatiently for the colder days to come. Tell me in the comments how this season feels like in your country. I love to hear from you guys 🙂